Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results

In a world overflowing with information, the ability to think, reason and decide is more paramount than ever. Shane Parrish, Farnam Street-founder and brilliant thinker, is one of the masters of this field. He has invested more time than most of us in refining his thought process and improving his mental abilities.In his recently published book “Clear Thinking”, Parrish shares his wisdom through well-crafted chapters that are both dense with knowledge and easy to understand.We learn about how emotions, ego, social pressure, and inertia trick us into behavioural patterns that we don’t see. We understand how we can manage these traps by knowing our weaknesses, putting up safeguards and handling mistakes in the best way possible when they happen.But the part I enjoyed the most was on decision-making: How we should remember to spend enough time understanding the problem we are solving, separate the problem definition from the solution in time, spend the proper effort evaluating the different options, and most importantly — learn from our decisions.There is way too much knowledge in this book to cover its breadth in a short review. So get it and read it! It’s an investment in time and money you won’t regret.

This book was a fantastic read with so many life lessons that brings an awareness to life issues and how to solve them. It was great to have the level of awareness with the understanding on how to influence the issues towards the outcomes in your favour.

This is an easy read with digestible information you can put into practice. There are other similar books on the shelves, so nothing brand new here if you have read other personal development books, but the way the information is presented is either a great reminder or a great introduction for people who strive to focus on self-reflection and continuous improvements. I will read this one again.

If you enjoy Shane's style of writing from the fs.blog, you'll love this book.Here are some of my favorite takeaways and quotes:“Many of the algorithms [default behaviors] you're running have been programmed into you by evolution, culture, ritual, your parents, and your community. Some of these algorithms help move you closer to what you want; others move you further away.”“There is always something you can do in the moment today to better your position tomorrow. You might not be able to solve the problem, but your next action will make the situation better or worse. There is always an action you can control, however tiny, that helps you achieve progress.”“The path to being exceptional begins when you decide to be responsible for your actions no matter the situation.”The great thing about this book, though, is that Shane provides relatable/vulnerable stories, tips and tools to back up ideas like these and help you put them into action. Ideas like putting together your personal board of directors or creating automatic rules to avoid decision fatigue and willpower wear down.And...I've been talking to people for years about weighing the reversibility and consequences of decisions, but never thought to put it in a simple x/y matrix (see attached photo). I love the way this guy thinks!

I’ve been a FS follower for years and spent countless hours on your pod. It is my most recommended media to friends and colleagues.I just finished the book and really took my time to digest and meditate on each section of content.Clear Thinking is incredibly well-packaged. It was such a rewarding experience to have been exposed to much of these thoughts piecemeal over the years and then have the privilege to consume and contemplate the lessons via book format. It’s SO well done. I can imagine the experience for a new follower is even more enlightening.

This book is easy to read and chock full of fundamentals for long-term success related to thinking and decision making. I’ve read dozens of books with similar themes, but this one was so good I immediately started reading it again. I also bought three more copies to give away.What I like most is the self-reflection that naturally occurs while reading the text. I don’t need to create a separate plan or take extra time to gain valuable insights. They came to me while reading.I even used ann underlined passages of mine last night to coach my 10-year-old who was complaining that something “wasn’t fair.” It meant more to him seeing that I used a book he had seen me reading.Great stuff!

The author explains step by step where people and leaders go wrong in their thinking and why. He provides practical advice and safeguards that can help you make better choices.

📚 Book Recommendation: "Clear Thinking" by Shane Parrish 🧠Want to turn ordinary moments into extraordinary results? Shane Parrish's "Clear Thinking" offers a game-changing approach to decision-making and personal growth.Key insights:1️⃣ Recognize decision opportunities in everyday life2️⃣ Overcome default behaviors leading to mediocrity3️⃣ Use a 4-stage decision process: define, explore, evaluate, execute4️⃣ Gather high-quality information (HiFi and HiEx)5️⃣ Balance emotions with rational thinkingParrish provides strategies to:✅ Build self-knowledge, self-control, and self-confidence✅ Set up decision safeguards✅ Train your brain for automatic success"Clear Thinking" isn't just about big decisions – it's about maximizing every moment. Learn to:• Recognize decision-making opportunities• Develop a systematic approach to choices• Seek quality information efficiently• Make good decisions automaticReady to unlock your potential? Grab "Clear Thinking" and start your journey to extraordinary results! 🚀#ClearThinking #ShaneParrish #DecisionMaking #PersonalGrowth #BookRecommendation

One of the best books I have read! It is a must for everyone

Recomendo para todos que buscam ter mais auto controle e desenvolvimento pessoal.

Shane Parrish founder of the popular blog site Farnam Street has authored a book about decision making called Clear Thinking. Parrish has spent much of his working life seeking to answers to questions like, “How can we get better at reasoning? Why do people make bad decisions? Why do some people consistently get better results than others who have the same information? How can I be right more often, and decrease the probability of a bad outcome when lives are on the line?” The quality of our decisions is a large contributor to the quality of our lives. And yet, we aren’t taught that decision making is a skill.Parrish proposes that better decisions follow two steps. First, we must make time to think. We must resist the reflex to react. Then we must use the time created to think. Like much good advice, both are easier said than done.Creating space for cognition is tough because our biology can get in the way. We think we’re thinking but are as likely to be simply reacting. We want to repulse at our impulse. Four defaults are detailed by Parrish which can disrupt our ability to think. The emotional default prioritizes feelings over facts. We react to our feelings and only pay attention to things that improve our feelings. Who is in charge? Are you moved by your waves of emotion or by your conscious cognition? A second default is our ego. We are sensitive to criticism and attacks against our self-worth. Where we sit in our social group is very important for us to protect. We want to be seen in a positive light. We will react defensively to attacks. Parrish writes, “Our desire to protect ourselves prevents us from moving forward.” We will work to rationalize our decision instead of evaluate information. Third, the social default is the drive we have to fit in with our peers. We don’t want to stick out. Being a contrarian isn’t comfortable. We want, if not the respect and admiration, at least the acceptance of our peers. Parrish quotes Walter Lippmann capturing the cost of the social default when he wrote, “Where all think alike, no one thinks very much.” The concern with the social default is conformity. Dissent is less likely. Critical thought is sidelined in favor of favorable group, social dynamics. Finally, the inertia default prizes the status quo. We crave comfort and change creates uncertainty which is uncomfortable. As a result of the inertia default, we’re more likely to leave things as they are and defer decisions to change.Physical and mental stressors can increase the likelihood that we’ll lean on our defaults. If we’re tired, hungry, distracted, angry, stressed, rushed, or somewhere unfamiliar, our defaults are likely to kick in compromising our ability to see things clearly and make good decisions. Developing an awareness of defaults and their tendency to disrupt decision making is the starting point to getting out of our own way. Awareness of defaults helps us tune our antennae to allow us to insert our thinking self into the equation earlier to avoid dependence on defaults. Parrish writes, “Strength is the power to press pause on your defaults and exercise good judgment.”A way we can work to give ourselves a chance is to set up environments for success to avoid some of our vulnerabilities like sleep, nutrition, distraction, etc. We can create a rule to adopt the HALT strategy. That is, avoid making decisions when Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. A separate rule to consider, for example, is never say yes to something without sitting with it overnight. Avoid being forced into a decision in the moment. Parrish proposes we seek safeguards to set up success. We can control our environments to rid ourselves of interruptions to reduce being pressured into decision making. Create checklists which are several rules piled into a routine which help us stay on track. They force us to slow down and engage mentally in a process allowing us to ask as Parrish writes, “What am I trying to accomplish? And what are the things I need to accomplish it?”Associated with accelerating awareness of our defaults (weaknesses) and controlling our environment is assuming responsibility for your decision making. We need to not just accept but embrace the responsibility we have for our decisions. When we see the importance of our role in decision making coupled with the value of quality decision making to our lives, we’ll heighten our awareness of defaults and want to work harder to build time to think. Avoiding accountability for our decisions and complaining both weakens and devalues us. Complaining is an assault on agency. We can’t be victorious while being a victim. When we’re hopeless, we become helpless. Taking responsibility may be tough, but it’s empowering. No, you don’t and can’t control everything. However, your actions contribute to your direction. Focusing on what we can control and making the most of the decisions with which we’re faced are the best ways to make progress in life. Recognizing reality is about placing our feelings in the back seat and deciding based on facts. Parrish quotes James Clear offering, “Life gets easier when you don’t blame other people and focus on what you can control.”We can think of our decisions as binary points where what we decide will either help us or hurt us. This binary becomes our decision driver. Parrish offers, “Each moment puts you in a better or worse position to handle the future.” He encourages us to ask, “Will this action make the future easier or harder?” It is in our moments of decision that our future is determined.Once we’ve created time to make choices consciously, we now need to use this time to make better decisions. Parrish presents four stages for decision making: defining the problem, exploring solutions, evaluating options, and executing the best option.Defining the problem must be done by the decider. Deciders define their problem in two steps. First, what is to be achieved. Second, what impediments lie in the way of where I/we want to go? Parrish suggests that how a problem is defined shapes how and what becomes seen. The definition determines the perspective. It’s also important when defining the decision that the root cause be rooted out as opposed to going after a surface level symptom. The definition of the problem should consider not just the immediate situation but the longer term as well. Engaging in an initial conversation focused solely on defining the problem ensures that solutions don’t creep into the conversation prematurely. Try to document your efforts to define the problem. The more you preserve your process, the more you will be able to review and learn from it after the solution has been selected and executed.Solutions can be sought once the problem has been defined. The goal is to seek out several. Avoid being limited to one or two options. Seek a minimum of three potential solutions to evaluate.Once solutions have been surfaced, they must then be evaluated. Each solution should be weighed based on their pros and cons. What is good about a potential solution and what limitations are there? No solution is perfect. What are the opportunity costs associated with a given solution? Remember, the best solution is the one that will, as Parrish writes, “make the future easier.” As part of this step, your goal is to determine evaluation criteria. How will each solution be weighed? Do you have a clear decision filter through which you’ll be sifting your solutions? Do you have a clear set of priorities? Ideally, a single priority as the goal for the solution to serve. Again, writing things down is an asset here as it makes your process concrete and allows the future outcome to be weighed against your decision-making process.Parrish proposes a sticky note battle to prioritize choice criteria. List individual criteria on a single sticky note and stack one by one the others against it until you have your hierarchy of what’s important for your solution to serve. Once you’ve selected your solution, you reach the final stage of the decision-making process. It’s time to execute. Parrish offers the military idea of Commander’s Intent as an approach to adopt to assist execution in a team environment. To avoid the leader becoming the weak link in the execution chain, the leader gives the group the driving principle behind the goal a decision is intended to achieve. This is the intent that others will rely on to make their own determination of what to do. This passes the baton for execution from the leader to the front lines. It empowers those around you to act with confidence and in service of the ultimate objective keeping things moving.An often-overlooked consideration in decision making is the cost of analysis itself. Too much time spent deliberating instead of doing has its own limitations. Parrish offers the ASAP and ALAP principles to help move things along when needed while allowing for time to discuss when the nature of the decision is more vital. The ASAP principle, Parrish writes applies, “If the cost to undo the decision is low, make it as soon as possible.” Whereas, the ALAP principle is, “If the cost to undo a decision is high, make it as late as possible.”At the end of the day Parrish writes, “The quality of your decisions eventually determines how far you go and how fast you get there.” Getting better at making decisions should be a goal for all of us and Clear Thinking is both readable and actionable to help us in this regard. There’s much wisdom contained within that can be put to use right away for readers in their personal and professional lives.

I really enjoyed this book. Really useful to our daily life given that we're always making decisions.

Really a classic on hand. I had been following Farnam Street and this was my first book of Shane which i am reading through currently. Really enjoying it.